Gravestone
by Sherry-Doll
Summary: It was too bad that he hadn't visited L's grave sooner. With all that had happened, it was natural for him to forget. It was a poor excuse, and certainly didn't make him feel any better, but it was the only one he had.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. If I did, Mello, Matt and L would not be freaking DEAD. *sniff* Near would still win though, because he's just awesome. =D  
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**Yeah. I was watching the director's cut, Final Conclusion, and this came to me. And I was listening to Rem's theme while I wrote it. So THAT is probably my inspiration ^^".**

**LISTEN TO REM'S THEME. IT'S SO SAD.  
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**I'm really depressed after writing this...**

**Anyway. Enjoy.**

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The rain is deafening, pattering on the gravestones, trickling into the ground and forming small puddles underfoot. It pools among the grass buds and gathers near the freshly dug earth that indicates a new grave. It runs down Mello's face and soaks into his clothes. It drips from his hair and glistens on his black leather garments.

L's grave is plain and bare in contrast with the ones surrounding it. They are lavished with gifts and flowers from teary friends and family. How sad it is that their tokens of love are pitilessly worn away, melted, almost, by the elements. The only family L has is the orphanage, and Mello is the first to visit, though he doesn't know it. There is absolutely nothing on the grave, save for the basic stone pedestal and large cross cemented on top of it.

Cerulean blue eyes gaze at the silver cross coolly. He lifts a bar of chocolate to his lips and breaks off a piece. _Crack._ "Hello, L." Mello continues to eat the chocolate, staring thoughtfully at the gravestone. "You can't really answer me, can you? Because," he bites off another piece, "you're dead. And you can't do much now."

He waits for a reply anyway, and when it doesn't come, he shrugs. "That was dumb of me, wasn't it? There's no point in me _waiting_ for a response when I know for a fact that you're dead. Anyway, I guess I just came because I felt…guilty and all, since I really should have visited you – well, at least, your _grave_ – when I first came, because then you wouldn't have to see me all messed up like this." He grins wryly, touching the burnt side of his face. There is a bitter edge to his voice that suggests that he hasn't completely forgiven L for choosing Near over himself, but Mello isn't here to rant. "Um…so…yeah. I'm not making any corny declarations, like, 'I'm going to hunt Kira down and make him pay!' or anything, because I don't need to avenge you, but I _will_ find him if that's what it takes to beat Near and prove to you that I'm better than him."

His voice rises at the last sentence, cutting through the soft splish-splash of the rain with its sharpness, hate staining his words black. For a moment, there is no noise other than the steadily increasing fall of rain. _Crack._ The sound of breaking chocolate pierces the silence. "Did you know? Matt still wears those ridiculous goggles. And plays with his stupid video games. I mean, they're fun and stuff, but he even brings them when we're going to a situation where we'd probably get shot. I'm there trying to avoid getting the shit kicked out of me and I look over to see him with that goddamn PSP. It makes me want to shoot _him_." He lets out a forced, incredulous laugh while pushing sopping wet hair out of his eyes. His clothes are soaked too, but he couldn't care less.

"And Near…I'll bet that bastard still has a security blanket. He's the same wimp he always was; doesn't like getting his hands dirty, so hires people to do it for him while he cowers with his toys." The loathing in his voice is barely contained. _Crack._ "And yet he still manages to beat me at everything else."

_After all_, he thinks, h_e's cool, composed, logical, and doesn't let his feelings get in the way. To tell the truth, I have a hard time believing he even _has_ emotions. Near's like one of those brainless robots he plays with – mechanical, barely human. He might be better at puzzles, but he'll never be able to understand others like I do._

That, at least, is something Mello surpasses Near in.

He fingers the cross hanging around his neck, curiously calm and devoid of feelings. It is completely out of character in contrast with his usual explosive, menacing, angry manner. The sudden rages at Near, at everyone comes naturally enough, but it's more like small bursts and is gone as soon as it arrives. The overpowering remorse is still there, though. He doesn't know what to think. L's grave makes him feel older, wiser, wistful, even. _Crack._ "You told me to believe," he said aloud. "To never lose faith in God. And maybe…maybe this is the ultimate test." Sacrificing himself to win, so that Kira loses, so that _he_ is the deciding factor in how this war would end.

Mello looks up at the bleak, grey sky, blinking as the raindrops sting his eyes. "I guess we all know what comes next." He's speaking of his imminent death; the one he knows for sure is coming, and hoping that Matt, at least, will get out of it alive. He's made his plans already, made the call to Halle and this is his final goodbye to the world, to L. He knows that this is exactly what they will all do eventually, if they haven't already done so. He knows that they can't leave until they have reported back to L, their leader, their idol, their shining star to look up to one last time.

_Crack._

With the broken off piece of chocolate in his mouth, Mello wraps up the rest of it and, after a moment's hesitation, places it on L's bare grave. He figures this is stupid, that the chocolate will go bad and that it's a waste, that it's embarrassingly cheesy. But he leaves it anyway, and, with one last guilty glance at the silver cross that glitters slightly even through the heavy downpour, he walks off to his fate, heavy, black boots squelching only slightly in the water-laden ground, swallowed by the torrent of grey rain. There is a quiet chuckle that can barely be heard over the pounding cascade and a ghostly, barefooted figure with a mess of black, untidy hair and eyes that are deepened by the dark bags underneath them is standing on the grave, unaffected by the drizzle. It is only there for a few seconds, but a voice lingers even after he disappears.

_I'll be seeing you soon, Mello._

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**Yeah. Reviews would be helpful…I really need to practice writing this kind of crap…-.-" I'm going to write some other grave cemetery stuff, with different people and different graves. The next one will probably be Near at Mello's grave, but it may change. So yeah. I hope you all enjoyed it.  
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